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Where Artistry Begins
Real gold, silver and copper leaf laid by hand on walls, ceilings, mouldings, mirrors and lettering.
Gilding means laying real metal leaf on a surface so that it glows like solid metal. If you want gilding in Reading, Zavoré lays gold, silver and copper leaf by hand on walls, ceilings, mouldings, mirrors, frames and signs, and restores worn gilding too. We are based in Birmingham, and there is also a showroom and training centre in London, open by appointment. Photos of the item or room are the quickest way to begin.
Most of the grander rooms in Reading date from the nineteenth century or earlier. There are a few Georgian townhouses near the centre, large Victorian houses in Redlands and Caversham, and plenty of mirrors, frames and overmantels that have outlived several redecorations. Leaf suits all of them, and a little goes a long way.
A gilded ceiling rose above a chandelier, a picked out cornice in a dining room, or a gold leaf alcove behind a bed can lift a whole scheme. In a house with original plasterwork, gilding the high points of the moulding brings out detail that years of white paint had hidden.
Our gilding page lists the full range. Locally the most common requests are likely to be feature walls and ceilings, picture frames and mirrors that have lost patches of gold, and lettering on the glass or boards of shop fronts, restaurants and offices. Reading has a busy town centre of independent businesses, and gold leaf lettering gives a window a hand finished look.
Gilding can also serve other finishes. A gold or silver ground under a hand painted scene, or leaf on the raised edge of a sculpted relief, catches the light in a way paint alone cannot. Leaf can sit over Venetian plaster too.
Real gold leaf is metal hammered to a sheet thinner than paper and laid over a size. It never tarnishes, so it keeps its warmth. Silver gives a cooler, brighter shine but darkens when exposed, which is why it is sealed, or left to age on purpose. Copper is rosier. Cheaper imitation leaf, often called Dutch metal, is always sealed, and you will be told clearly which metal you are getting.
Water gilding is the old method for fine frames and furniture. It is built over gesso and bole and rubbed up with a polished stone until it shines. Oil gilding is tougher and suits walls, ceilings, mouldings and anything touched often, though it will not burnish to the same depth. Plenty of jobs call for both.
Send photos of the wall, moulding, mirror, frame or sign, along with its size and the look you want. Before anything starts we show you the leaf and the sheen on a sample, so the colour of the metal can be judged against the room. The surface is then prepared for the method, which is where good gilding is won or lost, and the leaf is laid by hand and burnished, toned, distressed or sealed to suit the piece.
We survey before pricing and say plainly if the surface needs work first. Dates are agreed once the sample and price are signed off, and a larger ceiling or wall is planned in blocks of days. The working steps are on our gilding installation page.
Everything we install, we teach. Our gilding course runs at our training centres in Birmingham, London and Manchester, and the wider decorative work page shows what gilding can join with.
Gold leaf rarely works alone. A gilded panel behind a painted scene is explored in murals in Reading, and the same metal on raised edges in bas relief in Reading and sculptural plaster in Reading. Period ceilings are covered by cornice and coving in Reading. Gloss walls that reflect gold are in lacquered walls in Reading, glass and stone pictures in mosaics in Reading, and earthy textures in artificial rock in Reading and travertino in Reading. Speak to a decorative finishes specialist in Reading for the whole picture, or read about Venetian plastering in Reading.
Yes, gold leaf is real gold beaten into very thin sheets. Imitation leaf is a different alloy that looks similar and is sealed, and we always say which one is going on.
Yes. Worn, chipped or dirty gilding can be cleaned, consolidated and regilded where missing, matched to the original as closely as possible.
Yes. Picking out a cornice, a ceiling rose or panel mouldings in gold or silver leaf is among the most effective ways to add richness to an older room.
Yes. We lay gold leaf lettering on boards and glass for shop fronts, restaurants, offices and house names.
For gilding in Reading, send photos and rough measurements with your postcode to sales@zavore.co.uk, or ring 07592 929191 from Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm. If gold will sit on a plaster wall, ask about the sample board as well.
Order a sample board tinted to your colour, or send photos and rough measurements of the walls in Reading and we will come back to you with the right finish and a clear quote.
For a quote, email photos and measurements of your walls to sales@zavore.co.uk or call 07592 929191, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm.
See every area we cover.
Our main services: Venetian plaster installation, limewash installation, every decorative installation, Venetian plastering courses, the limewash course and our decorative finishes.
We also supply the trade by post, wherever you are. The shop ships tracked across the UK, and the Academy teaches the finishes in Birmingham, London and Manchester.
Providing luxury finishes for the most prestigious addresses in the world
Venetian plaster, limewash, microcement, tadelakt, metallics, sculptural plaster and gold leaf, supplied and installed by our own team, with Venetian plaster taught at our Birmingham studio.
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